what boolit to use in 45-70?

[tdoyka]

i have a handi-rifle in 45-70(22" barrel). i'm going to take it out once or twice a year for deer. shots will be under 100 yards, with 25-40 yards will be just about right for the deer.

i have been thinking about the 330gr gould boolit(1 in 40 or 1 in 20) going roughly 1300-1400fps or a 350gr ranch dog(1 in 20) going around 1300-1500fps.

what do you think?

[Doc Highwall]

They both sound good, but what does your rifle slug at and what size do the moulds drop at with that alloy?

Soft alloys need higher heat to cast and will have a greater shrinkage. I am casting 30:1 alloy and I am using 825 degrees and get great bullets.

[tdoyka]

i sized my bore and it was .4575". i don't have a mould yet, so i'm going to go with http://bullshop.weebly.com/-45-caliber-cast-bullets.html until i decide what to do.

i just got to sight the 45-70 in with the right boolits (about 200-300 boolits) and then for the most part, i am done.

i do have the tc encore with a 23" MGM barrel in 444 marlin and it does like the 280gr wfn gc(lyman #2 at .431") and a 275gr ranch dog(ww clip on at .430"). this gun is my favorite!!!

[marlinman93]

Need to know twist rate also, before choosing a bullet. I like lighter bullets for fun in my .45-70's, but generally haven't had much accuracy below a 360 gr. bullet in any of my guns.

[tdoyka]

mine is a 1 in 20" twist

[marlinman93]

That's a fairly good all around twist rate. A bit slow for really heavy bullets of 500 or heavier grains. It should be slow enough to shoot the light bullets, but probably still recommend shooting a 350-360 grain at least.

[Remmy4477]

The Lyman 457193, 405 grn is a very good all around bullet for the 45-70. Mine casts at .458

Your handi rifle would probably do real good with it.

I use the 457193 for about everything from plinking to BP matches and have never been disappointed with it's performance. Does an excellent job on deer and the Rams at 600 yards!

[Doc Highwall]

The lightest bullet that I like for my 45-70's for any kind of serious stuff like hunting and target practice 200-300 yard which is all my range goes to is something around 400 grains. My Marlin loves the Remington 405 grain bullets loaded over Varget, shoots three of them into a ragged hole at 100 yards if I do my part. They are going about 1750 fps for hunting so I don't shoot that many. For plinking I like 24-25 grains of 2400 or 27-29 grains of AA5744 with a cast 400 grain bullet.

[Bigslug]

Of the two, Ranch Dog.

NOE's 460-405 RF is very accurate and is a wonderful "nuclear option" for when you want to spread the contents of a milk jug as far from ground zero as possible. It's got one of the larger meplats (.341") you'll encounter short of full wadcutters - should be a great choice for draining blood from a deer quickly.

[lotech]

#457193 and the 330-grain #475122 are both excellent bullets; accuracy can be great with either. Considering the practical range of the .45-70 for most of us, the lighter bullet is more than adequate for most any use and recoil is noticeably less. I like to cast the Gould HP with ww alloy, size to .459" and load with 28 grs. 5744 for 1480 fps muzzle velocity.

[tdoyka]

#457193 and the 330-grain #475122 are both excellent bullets; accuracy can be great with either. Considering the practical range of the .45-70 for most of us, the lighter bullet is more than adequate for most any use and recoil is noticeably less. I like to cast the Gould HP with ww alloy, size to .459" and load with 28 grs. 5744 for 1480 fps muzzle velocity.

are these clip on or stick on alloys?

if i can do 3" or less at 100 yards using an aperture sight, i'll call it done for the day. i no longer like velocity, its hard on the stroke-abled like me!!![smilie=l:
i do kinda like the gould.

[lotech]

Clip on, and pretty old ones. I haven't checked the BHN in quite a while, but seems they were around 12-13.

[tdoyka]

Clip on, and pretty old ones. I haven't checked the BHN in quite a while, but seems they were around 12-13.

thanks!!!!

[725]

All of the above boolits will do the job and do it well. My H&R likes the 460-420 better than all the rest. Deer, boar, & bear hate it. I get cloverleaf targets regularly when I do my part. It's got a wide meplat that, when pushed slowly, put has massive holes in both side of any of the animals I've shot. And does so without excessive meat damage. Lots of air in and lots of blood out, as has been noted before. I'm playing around with a Gould and a Ranch Dog 350 now. Haven't gotten the accuracy I've gotten from the 460-420 yet. I need to play around some more.
NOE makes a copy / similar to our old Castboolit group 460-420 purchase of years ago.

[Doc Highwall]

I did buy the 330 grain Gould version made by MiHec and the 460-420 grain hollow base version also made by MiHec but have not cast with either yet.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I've always used the Lyman 457124 which is a RN plain base bullet weighing approx 385 grains. It was always listed as weighing 405 grains but it does not. MV is usually around 1200-1300 fps which works ok, but it can be pushed by around 50 grains of 3031 if you need that kind of muscle and can take the recoil. LLS

[StrawHat]

I have used the Gould boolit on deer and like the way it performed. I used blackpowder but a similar load with smokeless should put meat in the freezer.

Kevin

[Lonegun1894]

I use the Gould in my H&R and size it to .460", then push it to around 1450fps. Works great!

[MT Chambers]

The Gould has always been a great deer bullet, shoulder or hip shots can ruin a lot of meat if you up the velocity at all, but a lung/heart shot means instant venison.

[griffiga]

I have several .45-70s trapdoors, sharps, and Marlin lever actions, with all but the trapdoor rifle (32 inch bbl) I use 405 cast. I have killed everything from deer to elk and a lot of rocks. My favorite smokeless load for all of them is 29 grains IMR 4198 with the 405 cast slug, velocity out of 22 or so inch bbls is around 1300 fps.

[tdoyka]

The Gould has always been a great deer bullet, shoulder or hip shots can ruin a lot of meat if you up the velocity at all, but a lung/heart shot means instant venison.

thats good, velocity don't mean much to me. i'll be doing trapdoor loads, either h4198 or unique(12-15gr). like i said 3" or so groups at 100 yards with peep sights will be plently for me. likely it will be under 50 yards when the deer shows up[smilie=l:

my oldest son gave me the h&r(22" barrel with synethic stock) a couple of years ago for christmas. although i do like the 444 marlin(tc encore/23" MGM barrel), i'll take out the h&r a couple of days each year.

[725]

griffiga -

Do you use a filler with that load? I've loaded a 30 gr load of 4198 under a 415 gr boolit and got superior accuracy and wonderful game getting performance but, with a dash of dacron. Anybody, please, chime in with a comment. (And as the OP has requested, this is out of a H&R)